Number: 2011-04
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation is fully committed to protecting fish and wildlife and their habitats; and
WHEREAS, there are an estimated 100 million tons of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean, concentrated by the ocean currents into an area about twice the size of Texas where samples have found 46 times more plastic than plankton; and
WHEREAS, plastic is found in every ocean of the world (as well as in our nation’s waterways); and
WHEREAS, plastic never biodegrades but photo-degrades into small bits called microplastics that, in the ocean, accumulate hydrophobic organic compounds at 100,000 to 1 million times the level of the surrounding ambient water according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is concerned about the uptake of persistent organic compounds through microplastics into the ocean food chain; and
WHEREAS, while no accurate accounting has been conducted on the number of deaths caused by plastic bags or plastic generally, millions of sea turtles, birds, whales, fish, and other marine animals likely die every year as a result of entanglement, strangulation, suffocation, starvation, and poisoning due to plastic; and
WHEREAS, Americans use an estimated 100 billion plastic checkout bags at grocery stores every year; and
WHEREAS, twelve percent of beach litter around the world is plastic bags according to the Ocean Conservancy, which makes plastic bags the number one item of plastic beach litter and number two item overall; and
WHEREAS, only five percent of plastic checkout bags are recycled, but these bags gum-up the sorting machines of material recovery facilities, generating the biggest operating cost and workplace safety hazard for recycling facilities; and
WHEREAS, adequate alternatives exist to plastic checkout bags; and
WHEREAS, compostable plastic checkout bags do not compost in a low-heat compost heap, require a waste management system for proper disposal, pose a similar ocean problem as that of non-compostable plastic checkout bags, and possess a higher lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than alternative checkout bags; and
WHEREAS, paper checkout bags biodegrade, pose little threat to marine life, and can be made from recycled content; and
WHEREAS, reusable bags have the lowest lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and pose little threat to marine life; and
WHEREAS, plastic bag bans or fees have been adopted in Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands, Buenos Aires (Argentina); 5 cities in Australia and the province of South Australia, 5 cities in Canada and the provinces of Nova Scotia and Quebec, 12 cities in Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ulanbaatar (Mongolia), Karachi (Pakistan), Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Somalia, Somaliland, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Uganda; and
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina banned plastic checkout bags in its Outer Banks counties, and plastic bag bans or fees have been passed by about 50 local governments in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Washington DC, Hawaii, Iowa, New York, Texas, and Washington State;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports efforts to eliminate plastic checkout bags at all retail stands throughout our nation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF supports state and local efforts to ban the use of such bags, to encourage recycling, and to encourage the use of reusable bags.